In its second consultation for the EDF's planned Sizewell C nuclear power station there's a strange omission, writes Peter Lux: that the plant would use 1,600 m3 of mains water a day, adding to stresses on important local wetlands like RSPB's Minsmere reserve. The omission is not just strange - it's also illegal and could make the entire exercise invalid.
… to mention 600,000 m3 a year of mains water Peter Lux | 23rd January 2017 Activism Nuclear Energy Water Regulation UK … that the plant would use 1,600 m3 of mains water a day, adding to stresses on important …
Concentrating solar power plants seem in many ways like a silver bullet for the world's energy problems - but have we looked closely enough at their environmental impacts?
… Solar power – the hidden threat to water supplies Andrew Williams | 18th August … Solar Power Renewables Energy Climate Change Water csptrough.jpg 'Trough'-style … power plants could carry an unacceptable water-use burden in desert areas Concentrating …
First we heat up cold water for baths, showers and washing, write Jan Hofman & Laura Piccinini. Then we chuck all that precious heat down the plughole. So how about recycling our waste heat to warm up water on its way to the boiler or hot water tank, cutting bills and emissions? Or on a larger scale, use the sewage from entire communities as a free energy source for heat pumps?
… 2016 Comment Energy Cities Recycling Water Technology bath-cut.jpg First we heat up cold water for baths, showers and washing, write … how about recycling our waste heat to warm up water on its way to the boiler or hot water …
Israel's war on Gaza has seen the systematic and widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure essential for human survival, writes Luisa Gandolfo. This represents an apparently deliberate 'cutting off of life support' to those that survive the bombardment now under way.
… Gaza: water crisis grows as Israel targets essential … | 31st July 2014 News Middle East War Water Energy Land Grabs Human Rights Media gaza-children-water-rafah-cut.jpg Israel's war on Gaza has …
Tesla's Powerwall battery may be the poster-boy of the forthcoming dynamic power grid, writes Margaret McAll. But a far more accessible, low cost solution beckons: grid-interactive water heaters can soak up excess power from peaking renewables, reduce expensive peak demand, and cut power companies' need to invest in generation and distribution.
… Water heaters as batteries: as sexy as a … 2016 Comment Energy Renewables Smartgrid water-heater-cut.jpg Tesla's Powerwall battery … low cost solution beckons: grid-interactive water heaters can soak up excess power from …
A staggering 30-40 per cent of the water we use in our homes is for flushing the loo. That works out at two baths worth of water per day for the average family. Yet by taking a few simple steps or swapping your old toilet for an ‘eco-loo’, you can minimise your water usage, and save money too.
… Water-saving toilets Emay Walker | 1st April 2005 Ethical Living Toilets Compost Water Loo Eco-loo Water-saving Green Lifestyle Energy Pollution …
As well as being masters of water engineering, the Romans also engaged in a long distance trade in water across the Mediterranean - embodied in grain, oil, wine, cloth, metals and other goods. They also discovered the food-water-energy nexus - and not in a good way. We need to heed the warnings from Roman history.
… The food-water-energy nexus defeated the Romans. It … Bridge | 13th December 2014 Comment History Water Food Energy Society … As well as being masters of water engineering, the Romans also engaged in a long distance trade in water across the Mediterranean - embodied in …
On January 9 thousands of gallons of a toxic chemical used to produce “clean coal”, spilled into Elk River, leaving 300,000 with no water supply. Trish Kahle asks - how could this happen?
… News Coal Fossil Fuels USA Energy Society wva-water-distribution.png On January 9 thousands … into Elk River, leaving 300,000 with no water supply. Trish Kahle asks - how could … economic development - and you learn that the water piped into your home has been poisoned …
The winner of the 2017 Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy and Water - announced today (12th June, 2017) - is Futurepump, which manufactures an affordable, highly efficient and portable solar irrigation pump aimed at the millions of smallholder farmers in Kenya and around the world, writes CHHAVI SHARMA
… 2017 Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy and Water Chhavi Sharma | 12th June 2017 Ethical Living Ashden Award Energy Water Sustainability Irrigation futurepump.jpg … 2017 Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy and Water - announced today (12th June, 2017) - is …
São Paulo, South America's biggest city, is suffering its worst drought in over a century, writes Jan Rocha, with rivers and reservoirs running dry. But the state's politicians are seeking re-election. And for them, it's as if nothing is happening - never mind that water and power cuts affecting millions are looking inevitable.
… Jan Rocha | 29th August 2014 News Brazil Water Politics Energy … as if nothing is happening - never mind that water and power cuts affecting millions are … have never had to worry about conserving water. Year in, year out, the summer has …
A decade of 'diminishing' regulation funding puts pressure on water pollution enforcement.
… regulation funding puts pressure on water pollution enforcement. Reductions in … Agency efforts to take action against water companies for pollution, the regulator … chairman Alan Lovell to answer questions on water companies’ environmental performance and …
Four years ago today the world's biggest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl took place at Fukushima, Japan. Total clean-up costs are estimated around $0.5 trillion, writes Jim Green - but work to defuse the dangers has barely begun, the site is flooded with radioactive water making its way to the sea, and underpaid and illegally contracted workers are suffering a rising toll of death and injury.
… Energy Japan Pollution Corporations fukushima-water-sampling-cut.jpg Four years ago today … begun, the site is flooded with radioactive water making its way to the sea, and underpaid … with the increasing amount of contaminated water posing a short-term challenge that must …
Retired mechanic Jose Alano invented a simple, cheap, energy saving rooftop solar water heater which is benefiting thousands of people. Here's how it's done...
… How to make a solar water heater from plastic bottles Giovana … & Technology How To Make A Difference Solar Water Heaters Recycling Jose Alano … a simple, cheap, energy saving rooftop solar water heater which is benefiting thousands of …
The 2011 Fukushima catastrophe is an ongoing disaster whose end only gets more remote as time passes. The government is desperate to get evacuees back into their homes for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but the problems on the ground, and in the breached reactor vessels, are only getting more serious and costly, as unbelievable volumes of radiation contaminate land, air and ocean.
… 2017 News Nuclear Energy Japan Health Finance Water Radiation fuk-4-iaea-cut.jpg The 2011 … into the open skies, contaminated water is still leaking continuously into the … Pacific ocean, and partially decontaminated water is being dumped into the ocean. All …
Unlike large dams, now widely acknowledged to be unsustainable and ineffective, micro-hydro involves the use of small mills and dams to provide clean energy and an alternative source of income for rural communities.
… Renewable energy: Micro-hydro, Biomass, Solar Water Panel Jeremy Smith | 1st June 2004 News Solar Water Panels Renewable Energy Biomass … Fursdons dug a 460 metre channel to transport water from a stream on their land to the new …
Many of the substances that make wastewater a pollutant can also be useful as fertilisers for agriculture and in generating gases for small power stations, says report
… Food And Farming Waste And Recycling Energy Water Pollution Natural World Health wastewater.jpg A polluted urban waterway (Image copyright: UNEP) Many of the …
The clean up at Fukushima faces enormous challenges, writes Justin McCurry. First, managing 500,000 tonnes of contaminated water stored onsite. Next, removing molten fuel from reactors 1, 2 and 3, a task so hazardous that it's been put off until 2025. Even robots have been unable to enter the reactor buildings - and no one knows where the molten fuel has gone.
… managing 500,000 tonnes of contaminated water stored onsite. Next, removing molten … to contain huge quantities of radioactive water. The water problem is so severe that the plant's …
Some 245 Indian villages are in the middle of being destroyed by a $7 billion dam project that will consume more energy than it provides and has even been condemned by its World Bank sponsors.
… sturdy central wooden beams poking out of the water. Next to Katrikaki’s old home, in a … faces. It was only two weeks earlier that the water level in the reservoir had risen and … who had released over 150,000 cusecs of water from the upstream Tawa dam over the last …
Russia's Lake Baikal is under threat by a massive dam and pipeline on the main river that feeds into it, that would supply mines with power and water, writes Anson Mackay. In line to fund the project? The World Bank.
… Anson Mackay | 19th April 2015 News Finance Water Energy Mining Russia Mongolia Natural … it, that would supply mines with power and water, writes Anson Mackay. In line to fund … river could provide much needed power and water for the country's booming mining …
Biggest engineering project in Chinese history could repeat failures of Three Gorges Dam, with significant pressure on ecosystems and fisheries from the resettlement of 300,000 people
… Resettlement fears over China's South-North water transfer project The Ecologist | 31st … 2010 News China Natural World Dams Energy Water threegorgesdam.jpg China's Three Gorges … A giant engineering project transferring water to northern China is failing to learn …
So-called extreme energy - including fracking, coal bed methane extraction and underground coal gasification - is being rolled out with little concern for the environment, leading campaigner, author and engineer Paul Mobbs tells the Ecologist Film Unit
… like the duel kettle you use to clean the tap water…it’s a big carbon filter. When you flush … which have been filtered out of groundwater for millions of years will come with it. … It’ll have a higher polluting impact, both water and air pollution, than existing energy …
Paul Mobbs, leading environmental campaigner, author and engineer, tells the Ecologist Film Unit that extraction industries, including coal bed methane extraction, are going ahead in the UK despite serious environmental concerns........
… like the duel kettle you use to clean the tap water…it’s a big carbon filter. When you flush … which have been filtered out of groundwater for millions of years will come with it. … It’ll have a higher polluting impact, both water and air pollution, than existing energy …
America's coal-fired power plants produce 140 million tons of ash a year, reports Ben Whitford, most of it dumped in open storage ponds that contaminate drinking water with arsenic and heavy metals. And now Presidential candidate Jeb Bush is promising to scrap 'new and costly' (actually feeble) EPA regulations before they have even been implemented.
… open storage ponds that contaminate drinking water with arsenic and heavy metals. And now … of coal-fired energy generation, mixed with water to make it easier to pour into an … of the crude pit and entering the local groundwater. That's especially problematic in rural …
Despite all the hype that fracking the UK will mean cheaper energy bills, it is increasingly clear that the opposite is the case, writes Lesley Docksey. And who will pay the cost? Taxpayers, energy users, and the environment ...
… Defra, compensation to farmers whose stock, water and land have been poisoned - except it … every single chemical found in your poisoned water corresponds to the combination used by … will pick up the bill. Costs of clean water We will pay, via our water rates, for …